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Show BATTLEFIELD OF FRANCE Ij CHAUMONT, Wednesday, Dec. 25. I (By The Associated Press) President II Wilson today pledged himself to the fj American troops in the field to attain t, a peace which would preserve the fj fruits of the sacrifice they have made, fi Standing with bared head in a field j near Langres,. over which Caesar fi marched with his legions centuries 1 ago, the president to7d 10.000 American Ameri-can infantrymen that, now that they bad done their part to win tho ideals for which America entered tho war, they could depend upon him to seo that they were preserved. The president came up from Paris to spend Christmas day with tho men who have done such a great part in I winning tho war. Historic old Chau-i Chau-i mont, headquarters of the American army, did Itself proud in its .reception. In Its homely way It rivalled Paris, and j in the depth o its sincerity it fully ; equalled it. The oldest inhabitant was out with I his age old silk hat, the prettiest little lit-tle girl was out in her best gown. The streets were lined with American and French troops and tho sidewalks were Hj choked with Frenchmen cheering Hj themselves hoarse. IHi The moss grown roofs of the houses were loaded with folks from the countryside coun-tryside who cared nothing for the raw chill wind that swept over the land or for the occasional rain or the touch Cold gray cloud banks shut out the sun and the ground was wet and sodden. sod-den. But there was no dampness in the welcome. Chaumont simply went wild. The American troops, muddy, cold and soaked, but happy, seemed just as enthusiastic as the country people. The president's train arrived at 0 o'clock in the morning and the party went at once to the city hall, where there was a formal reception, speeches and the presentation of flowers. Less than a tenth of those invited could crowd into the small room, which already had in place a tablet commemorating the president's visit. There were speeches, all in Franch, by the general commanding the district; dis-trict; the mayor and the prefect. Tho president nodded appreciatively appreciative-ly and smiled from time to time. Just as he began to make his reply the military band in the square outside broke into the strains of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and tho president presi-dent spoke to the dramatic accompaniment accompan-iment of tho notes of the famous old American fighting hymn. The preliminary ceremony was soon over and the president and his. party took motor cars to Langres, where selected se-lected troops from six divisions wero waiting to be reviewed. They were gathered in a field, which might be likened geographically to the battlefield battle-field of Gettysburg. It lies on a gentle Blope between two elevations, with a range of hills on either side and a road running along tho top of one of them. Just as the caravan gained the crest overlooking the troops, a very old French woman standing at the roadside road-side waved frantically at tho passing cars to take in a bouquet of flowers she wanted to give to Mrs. Wilson. The long line of cars had swept on. showering tho dismayed old woman with mud. when the president caught the situation and, stopping tho lino, he sent a colonol back through the mud to get the old lady's flowers. A temporary board walk had been built over tho quagmire o the reviewing review-ing field. General Pershing opened the ceremony with a brief speech In which he presented the "victorious army" to the president. The president addressed the troops as "my fellow, countrymen," and a silence, which he characterized as the quiet of peace, settled down over the spot as every man of the ten thousand stood at at-presldent's at-presldent's words. For a moment as he spoke the sun broke through a rift in the clouds and lighted upon the scene, the massed troops in khaki, looking like great waves of winter-killed grasses In the fields; then like long flashes of dulled winter sunshine Some persons of the party remarked that they indeed were the sunshine which had dispelled the gray mist. The president spoke for about five minutes, earnestly and as loudly as he could. Probably half the troops heard him. They all seemed to recognize the historic significance of the occasion. occa-sion. There stood before them an American Ameri-can president, the first in history to review an American army on foreign soil. There stood a president for whom no like privilege had been available avail-able since Lincoln stood on tho firing line with tho troops north of Washington. Wash-ington. Certainly no other president of modern times had reviewed so large a body of fighting men fresh from the battlefields. Langres is not a battlefield; it is not a devastated section of France. Most of It has not seen a battle for more than a hundred years. It is one of the portions of this country saved from tho ravages of the invading hordes by tho men who were reviewed by the president there today. That this reviewing plaec does not stand on the rim of the crater of the volcano did not diminish the significance signifi-cance of the event for every man taking tak-ing part in the review had seen action. ac-tion. War crosses were plentiful, tho men had been through all and were vetorans in every sense of the word. Thore was an unmistakable flash of wholesome pride in the president's eye nnd a catch In his throat as he looked at them and remarked what a privllcgo It would bo to have boon one of them. The moment the president finished speaking the review was on men guns, horses and dogs. Tho headquarters' head-quarters' band began with a Fronch air, thon switched to the "Stars and Stripes Forever," "The Suwance River," "Maryland," and "Dixie." The notes of the American airs wero wafted over the bleak fields to tho blue hills in the background as the men began to move, marching in company front formation, wheeling past the reviewing stand, eyes bright. First came the men of the Sixth division, veterans of the Meuse and Argonno offensives; thon infantry and machine guns of the Tvonty-sixl.h. veterans of tho Chemln des Dames, Chateau Thierry and the Argonne. Tlie men of the Twenty-ninth, also In the Argonne offensive were next and a complete battalion of tho Seventy-seventh. Detachments of the Eightieth, who wero in the fighting at Vordun last October and detachments of the Eighty -second followed. The review was brought to an end by a long train of ammunition wagons, wag-ons, dragged through tho mire by tho inevitable array mule, who seemed to bo the least interested of all, and a company of fifteen whippet tanks, which slewed and skidded about in tho mud and made every one wonder how the man inside must feol in battle. bat-tle. At the close of the review General Alexander stepped up to the stand and presented Mr. Wilson with one of the little silken statues of Liberty which the men of the Sevouty-soventh wear on their shoulders to denote their di vision. The president and party then reentered re-entered tho motor cars going lo Christmas dinner with the officers of the Twenty-sixth division, composed entirely of New England troops. Dinner Din-ner was served in one of the empty wards in an old French hospital sov-eral sov-eral miles away. It had been the president's wish and plan to dine with tho troops themselves but in the crush of arrangements something went wrong and the plan was not carried ont. The president seemed lo enjoy the dinner none tho less. It consisted of army bread without butter, roas turkey tur-key with dressing, boiled onions, French lettuce and coffee without croam. All was served in the simplest style and with tho littlest ceremony. The headquarters' band gave the president four ruffles and flourishes when ho came and when he went away he simply waved his hand to all, and with a smile said: "Well, good-bye. Hope to see you again soon." From dinner the president wont on a tour of the billets in tho nearby neighborhood, all of them on the road returning to Chaumont, and inspected personally several of the places where the men live with old French families; fami-lies; some of them in thatched huts. The president told those about him' that he had passed through tho greatest great-est day of his life. The French thought it was a great day for thorn, and the Americans were sure it was no less greater for them. All the American troops in the vicinity vicin-ity who were not concerned in tho review re-view were somewhere to see what was . going on. |
